The paltry release of N36 million out of the N218 billion capital allocation for the health sector in the 2025 budget, amid equipment shortages in public hospitals and a surge in health worker migration, has raised concerns among stakeholders about the quality of service delivery to patients.
The N36m released so far represents approximately 0.015% of the N218bn allocated for the capital project in last year’s budget.
Experts in the health sector lament that such development continues to stall critical projects such as hospital upgrades, equipment procurement, and expansion of primary healthcare facilities.
This is coming at a time when Nigeria’s health indicators, like maternal and neonatal mortality, disease burden, and out-of-pocket spending, among others, are worrisome.
In 2025, several challenges fuelled by poor funding plagued the health sector, including numerous strikes by health workers that disrupted services nationwide, brain drain, and a global cut in health funding.
PUNCH Healthwise reports Nigeria has continued to fall short of the African Union’s Abuja Declaration target of allocating at least 15 per cent of national budgets to health, 24 years after the commitment was made in 2001.
At the 2026 budget defence before the House Committee on Healthcare Services, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, blamed his ministry’s inability to implement its 2025 capital budget on the gaps between allocated and released funds.
“Out of the N218bn appropriated to the health sector by the parliament for the execution of capital projects in the 2025 fiscal year, only N36m was released,” the minister told the committee.
As hospitals grapple with inadequate resources, experts who spoke exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise stressed that underfunding capital projects could further weaken the already strained health system.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State branch, Dr Babajide Saheed, said the poor release of funds for capital projects may lead to avoidable setbacks in national health outcomes.
While describing the release of N32m as disappointing, Saheed said the action showed that the government does not prioritise the healthcare needs of Nigerians.
“That shows that the health of Nigerians, generally, is not their priority and not their concern. Capital projects are part of the development of the health sector. The government is failing Nigeria by not providing what was supposed to be provided,” he said.
He noted that despite FG failing to meet up with the Abuja Declaration, it was surprising that the government still failed to release the already allocated budget for capital projects in 2025.
Saheed noted that the failure to release allocated budget for capital projects poses risks to patients, particularly in emergency care, maternal health, and management of chronic diseases.
“It increases mortality because people do not have access to better healthcare. One, in terms of infrastructure development; two, in terms of equipment in hospitals; and three, in terms of services.
“If you give an important sector like health a low allocation for capital projects, there will be less infrastructure, less access, and less delivery of emergency care to patients. What happens? Mortality increases at the end of the day, and our health system will not improve,” the Lagos NMA chair said.
He, however, urged the FG to increase and release the full allocation to the health sector.
“If capital project funding is reduced and they are not getting what they are supposed to get, infrastructure will be affected, and patients will be denied proper healthcare,” he said.
Also speaking, the immediate past vice chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, Dr. Olumide Obube, described the shortfall in the released capital projects budget as embarrassing.
He said, “This represents not merely an administrative shortfall but a profound national embarrassment with far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s health system. A capital release of approximately 0.02% of the approved allocation effectively amounts to non-implementation.
“In a country already grappling with fragile health infrastructure, high disease burden, and severe workforce shortages, such fiscal paralysis signals systemic dysfunction at multiple levels of governance and economic management,” Obube said.
According to him, capital expenditure drives health system transformation.
“It funds infrastructure development, medical equipment procurement, digital health systems, laboratory expansion, oxygen plants, and tertiary hospital upgrades. Without capital financing, systems stagnate,” he noted.
He stressed that with Nigeria’s concerning health indicators, like maternal and neonatal mortality standing at an estimated over 500 deaths per 100,000 live births and above 35 per 1,000 live births, respectively, the shortfall was surprising.
“These statistics reflect a system already under strain. When capital funds are withheld, improvements in service delivery, emergency response capacity, and rural health access become unattainable,” he said.
He said that poor infrastructure, limited equipment, and inadequate institutional investment diminish the morale of health workers and professional fulfilment.
According to him, when facilities lack basic diagnostic tools, health workers become frustrated, migration accelerates, and service quality declines further.
“The release of N36 million from a N218 billion capital allocation is undeniably embarrassing for a nation of over 200 million people aspiring to Universal Health Coverage. However, embarrassment must evolve into institutional reform,” he said.
He urged the government to treat the episode as a turning point.
“The health of Nigerians is not expendable. It is foundational to national development,” he said.
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